Landschap 1834 - 1911

This is Landschap, a landscape study made by Jozef Israëls using graphite on paper. The texture of the paper really comes through, doesn't it? And the marks laid down by the artist are so direct. He isn't trying to disguise the act of drawing; rather, he's embracing it. You can see this especially in the rapid strokes he used to indicate the sky. Israëls was clearly interested in capturing the raw, unvarnished truth of the world around him. And the immediacy of graphite allows him to do that. We often think of drawings as preliminary, as somehow less important than painting or sculpture. But this artwork reminds us that the process of making can be just as significant as the finished product. It invites us to consider the act of drawing as a form of labor, a way of engaging with the world that is both physical and intellectual.